Please select a subject first
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You had to cycle home through the town on the day of a festival. Describe the sights, the sounds and the mood of the people around you. What were your feelings at the end of the ride?
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Life is a series of choices that we make every day. Narrate an incident when you had to make a difficult choice. Elaborate on the positive impact it had on you.
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A college degree is needed to succeed in life. Argue for or against this statement.
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One cannot always get what one wants and sometimes it is for the best. Present your reflections on this statement.
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Write an original short story that begins with the following words:
My mother stopped suddenly at the doorway and stared in amazement at ..........
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You are the editor of your school magazine. You want to bring about awareness among the students on the topic -Noise Pollution: A threat to all life forms. Write an article in about 300 words based on the following points:
Causes of noise pollution - effects on humans - effects on other living creatures - measures to reduce noise pollution - role of authorities - conclusion.
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As a member of the Student Council of your school, you wish to set up a Food Club to promote healthy eating habits among students. Write a proposal in not more than 150 words, outlining the steps that you will take to make this club a success.
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In the following item, sentence I is complete, while sentence II is not. Complete sentence II, making it as similar as possible to sentence I. Write sentence II.
(I) Sushil's attitude towards work has always puzzled me.
(II) I have ______
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The judge turned ______ the defendant's appeal for a postponement.
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He turned ______ for the programme earlier than usual.
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There is an urgent need ______ a bus stop in this village.
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He has poor eyesight and is in need ______ glasses.
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The speeding driver was asked to pull ______ by the traffic police.
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She is very ill, but the doctors think she will pull ______.
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She set ______ a little money each week for the child's education.
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I would not even know how to set ______ mending a watch.
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One should not give ______ hope despite the hurdles.
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The mother gave ______ to the persistent demands of her child.
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Read the passage given below and answer the questions (i), (ii) and (iii) that follow:
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(1) |
Something happens to cats after we have enjoyed a delicious meal. Call it a feline sugar hit or a rush of good feelings. Abandoning our usually sedentary nature, we transform into crazy beasts who thunder down corridors, spring from one piece of furniture to another, or pounce from behind half-closed doors to attack the shoelaces of unsuspecting passersby. It is as though we are temporarily possessed. |
5 |
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(2) |
That, at least, is my excuse, dear reader - and the only explanation I can offer for my entirely unplanned global TV debut. |
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(3) |
To be fair, I had no way of knowing that my master was receiving visitors that particular afternoon. Nor that he was being interviewed live, let alone by one of America’s most famous journalists. |
10 |
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(4) |
All I knew was that, a few minutes after gorging myself on a favourite treat of creamy pudding, I felt that sudden, primal explosion of energy. I made my way back to the suite of rooms that I shared with my master and felt an overpowering compulsion to do something completely mad. I wanted to run like a furious jungle cat, at that particular moment. |
15 |
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(5) |
Bursting through the door of the room in which my master received visitors, I tore up the carpet as I raced towards the sofa opposite where he was sitting. I ripped its fabric as I scrambled up its side like a savage creature clawing its way up a perilous cliff. Then with a final, frenzied burst, I launched myself off one arm of the sofa, leaping towards the other. |
20 |
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(6) |
It was only at this point that I realised the sofa was occupied by the journalist. She was halfway through a sentence, and my abrupt appearance caught my master's guest completely by surprise. |
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(7) |
You know, when something truly unexpected happens, time can seem to slow down. Well, that’s how it was. As I flew past the woman's face, her expression turned from one of calm engagement to that of total surprise. |
25 |
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(8) |
I As she pushed back in her seat to avoid me, the shock on her face could not have been more evident. |
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(9) |
But, dear reader, she was not more shaken than me. I had not been expecting anyone on the sofa, let alone a TV celebrity, nor one who was mid-interview. As I headed towards the opposite end of the sofa, for the first time I observed the lighting, the cameras and the crew watching the action from the shadows. By the time I landed on the other arm of the sofa, all the energy that had propelled me was gone. |
30
35 |
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(10) |
I was, no longer, a furious jungle cat. |
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(11) |
The journalist looked at me. I looked at her. Both of us were taking in what had just happened. I was also conscious of the cameras still rolling as well as many pairs of eyes watching me at that moment. My moment of global glory. |
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Adapted from: The Dalai Lama's Cat Omnibus |
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(i)
- Given below are three words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage: [3]
- inactive
- eating in a greedy manner
- dangerous
- For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage: [3]
- thunder (line 3)
- spring (line 3)
- past (line 26)
(ii) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:
- What is the usual nature of the narrator's kind? How is it differently presented in the passage? [2]
- What did the 'favourite treat of creamy pudding' do to the narrator? [2]
- Describe the actions of the narrator after bursting into the visitors' room. [2]
- How did the journalist react when the narrator 'flew past' her face? [2]
(iii) Summarise how the narrator became a global celebrity (paragraphs 4 to 11). You are required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words. Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. [6]
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